JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley School District routinely brings in professionals to talk to students about careers in science or medicine. On Friday morning the district brought back one of its own.

As part of its monthly STEM lecture series, the district invited Seneca Valley graduate Daniel Ranayhossaini, who is pursuing a doctorate in pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh, to talk.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. The district each month has a person talk to students about his or her career, study and passion in a specific field.

Ranayhossaini, 25, talked about biochemistry and the work he does in the research and development of drugs that treat vascular disease.

He previously worked for the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company, working to develop antibodies to help treat cancer.

He showed videos of blood flowing through veins to help detail his research, often using scientific language to get his points across.

He also detailed the testing of new drugs, oftentimes done on laboratory rats or mice.

“You definitely don’t want to test new drugs on people,” he said.

Ranayhossaini also chatted with former teachers and even spotted his parents in the back of the auditorium.

His mother, Lynne, said she was ecstatic at the prospect of listening to her son give a lecture, and added Seneca Valley is the reason he is where he’s at today.

“He had such a good start here,” she said. “The teachers really nurtured his interest in science.”

Jeff Roberts, an assistant principal at the high school, also smiled and talked with Ranayhossaini before the lecture. Roberts remembered teaching the former student in chemistry.

“This is a great chance to show that a Seneca Valley grad followed his dreams and is very successful in a career,” Roberts said.

Kevin Dragisic, a student from Cranberry Township, said after the talk he plans on pursuing a career in computer science. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t intently interested in Ranayhossaini’s lecture.

“It really opens up new fields you didn’t know existed,” he said about the STEM lecture series.

Ranayhossaini graduated from Penn State in 2010 and is in the final year of his doctoral studies at Pitt.